NEW YORK, Jan 25: Stocks tumbled to their lowest levels since October on Friday as the specter of a US war against Iraq loomed over a market already spooked by the outlook for corporate profits during the rush of reporting season.

The blue-chip Dow, which lost a whopping 238 points, and the broad Standard & Poor’s 500 index slammed to three-month lows, while the tech-packed Nasdaq smacked its lowest level this month. Wall Street has endured losses in five of the past six sessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 238.46 points, or 2.85 percent, to 8,131.01, according to the latest available numbers. The Dow hit its lowest level since Oct. 17. All 30 blue-chip components ticked lower.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slumped 25.94 points, or 2.92 per cent, to 861.40, also slamming to its lowest point since Oct. 17. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 46.14 points, or 3.32pc, to 1,342.13.

Investors are on tenterhooks ahead of two events early next week that could determine whether there is war.

CMS Energy Corp. tanked almost 29 per cent and American Electric Power Co. Inc. fell 4.6 per cent after the utility companies offered bleak outlooks. American International Group Inc. sank 8 per cent and Allstate Corp. fell 3.6 per cent after Morgan Stanley downgraded insurers, blaming in part a “continued weak economy.”

Companies are not giving a tremendous amount of visibility for 2003, and considering Iraq still looms, people are getting a little skittish and are taking some money off the table, said Jack Francis, senior Nasdaq trader at UBS Warburg.

For the week, the Dow tumbled 5.3pc, the S&P 500 fell 4.5pc and the Nasdaq surrendered 2.5pc. All three gauges sank for the second straight week.

The Dow and the S&P 500 are in negative ground for the year despite an early January rally. The Nasdaq is up just 0.5 per cent so far in January.

Declining stocks trounced advancers by a ratio of about 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. More than 1.53 billion shares changed hands on the Big Board and more than 1.57 billion on Nasdaq in moderate trading.—Reuters